Beater for agitating stock



Oct. 29, 1929. L, FURBUSH 1,733,456

HEATER FOR AGITATING STOCK Filed April 18, 1927 w W AWM Patented Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK L. FURBUSH, OF WESTFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO C. G. SARG-ENTS SONS CORPORATION, OF GRANITEVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS HEATER FOR AGITATING STOCK Application filed April 18,

This invention, although capable of more general use, is particularly designed as a beater for agitating stock carried on a traveling apron in a drier or other machine in which the stock requires agitation as for example, rubber, soap and the like.

For this purpose I employ a series of swinging beater fingers which are capable of engaging the solid material on the conveyor as the beater goes around and thus cleaning the conveyor and keeping it clean. These fingers are freely pivoted so that they will yield automatically whenever they strike an uneven surface and if one blow does not get a lump out of the way it will not interfere with the operation of either the conveyor or the beater and it will later receive additional blows which will remove it from its position.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a side View of the discharge end of a drier showing the endless apron on which the stock is carried and the beater in position for operating upon it;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the beater as it appears when at rest;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the beater; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view partly in section showing details of construction.

The invention is capable of use on the one apron or the three apron type of drier or in fact any type of drier in which the stock is carried over on an endless apron or the like. I have shown one apron here for the purpose of illustration.

Referring to the drawings the stock is carried along inside the drier 10 on the endless apron 11 which passes over drums 12 at each end. VVhendrying rubber, soap or any material which is somewhat sticky the stock is likely to stick to the apron instead of being discharged over the drum at the discharge end so that it will go through the machine again and again, thus producing uneven drying and perhaps clogging up the machine. It is customary to apply a beater to an apron of this kind and in this case the beater is applied in the usual place. It is operated by a belt 13 which rotates a pulley on the beater shaft 14:.

1927. Serial No. 184,825.

The beater itself comprises a frame carried by this shaft made up of end discs 15 and other discs of the same character located along the shaft and rotating with it and rods 17 carried by the discs parallel with the shaft 14. Beater fingers 16 are swingingly pivoted on the rods 17 which rotate with the central shaft. These beater fingers are located at short intervals across the machine and are freely pivoted on their respective shafts. The fingers 16 are connected with the shafts or rods 17 by collars 18, which may be free on the shaft and separated by spacing cylinders 19 so that they stay in the right position. This forms a loose construction which permits of the operation above described. These fingers can be made of metal, if desired, or when treating an inflammable material they may be made of rubber, rawhide, or the like to avoid the produc tion of sparks in the machine.

The fingers will hang in the position shown in Fig. 2 when at rest. WVhen rotating the fingers fly out in radial directions, as shown in Fig. 1, and will just miss coming into con tact with the sections of the apron 11 as they go around. The purpose of the fingers is to give any stock clinging to the apron a yielding blow which, ordinarily, is sufficient to dislodge it and keep the apron clean, so that it will leave no stock sticking to it when it gets around to the intake end. At the same time the blow is delivered merely by the centrifugal force and weight of the fingers which act as hammers, free to yield if they meet any undue resistance. If any stock is left to pass once around it will be likely to be dislodged the next time so that it will not collect an additional quantity of stock and pile up into large masses that might clog the machine. Furthermore as the stock is practically all knocked off the sections of the apron it will not go through the machine again and get too dry and hard. The fingers loosen and agitate the stock on the conveyor so that it is left in better condition for drying and, as stated, they keep the conveyor clean and prevent the stock from being piled up upon it in solid masses. The beater is driven fast enough so that an adequate blow is driven by each finger as it goes around.

Although I have illustrated and described only one form of the invention I am aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed inv the claim.

Therefore I do not wish to be limited-to the details herein shown and described, but what I do claim is A heater for the purpose described, comprising a rotary shaft, a plurality of spaced disks mounted thereon, a plurality of rods carried by said disks parallel to said shaft, a plurality of fingers pivotally mounted on said rods, and spacing means on each rod be tween the sets of fingers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed lnysignature.

FRANK L. FURBUSH. 

